The Things Molly Knows
by PuffleHuffWriting
Summary: Molly has been keeping a secret, but when Tonks finds out- Will it change the way she looks at her husband forever? Disclaimer- I am not JK Rowling, I make no money writing with her beautiful characters. Set During Deathly Hallows
**One-Shot drabble about secrets being kept and the pasts even those closest to us sometimes hide. Hope everyone likes it! Be sure to let me know! and as always, I am NOT JK Rowling, and make no money writing with her characters.**

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Nymphadora was starting to miss coffee, but the hot chocolate Molly had presented her with was still doing its job of warming her down to the bone. 'Stupid precautions.' she thought, tapping her fingers on her swollen stomach, where she could feel her son flipping over and over in her womb. Molly smiled across the table in a tender, motherly sort of way, slightly amused at Tonks' annoyance.

"It's not so much longer now, dear. Then you'll be able to sleep again. We'll- for a few hours at a time." She chuckled. Tonks did not seem amused.

"The baby is _not_ the problem with my sleep." She said with a bitter bite. Molly had figured as much, but did not want to assume. She wanted the best for Nymphadora and Remus, and she had hoped when he came home to her that things would be better for the newlyweds, even with the war raging around them.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Molly ask, worry taking her over. These two may as well be her own, and she loved them both dearly. Tonks shrugged and slumped down slightly in her seat. "Dora?" Molly pressed again, calling Tonks' attention away from the blank space she had been angrily starring into.

"I know that there is a war. I know that Remus is key in it, both on the Potter Watch and with the werewolves. I know that." She said, still tensed. Molly felt a bit confused at the young woman's point.

"I don't think I unders-" Molly started to question further.

"I don't think Remus has spoken to me in three days." She said suddenly, a tear escaping down her cheek. "He's there, but he isn't... There. I can't get him to talk to me about anything. Baby names- the weather- Nothing!" She shook her head violently and her once purple bob fell into stringy, mousy brown strands around her face.

Molly sat quietly for a moment, and deep down, she felt guilty.

"He won't talk to you, about even the baby?" Molly ask. Tonks shook her head. "And you have no idea why?" To this one, Tonks shrugged largely.

"I'm a mistake. _We_ are." She gently laid a hand on her stomach, and at this statement, Molly flinched.

"I really don't think Remus feels that-" Molly tried to argue.

"He has said it before. So, so many times! You have h-heard him!" She hiccuped as she cried.

"Dora, he loves you. You know that." She insisted. "He only wanted to protect you. He came home, after all. I mean, when you think about; That's more than Je -" Molly stopped herself and picked up her cup, sipping at her own hot chocolate to break the silence. But Tonks' was smarter than that. One of the best and brightest Aurors to be recruited in the Ministry in years. Hardly anything ever got past her. The tears dripped onto her shirt, but she sat forward with a grunt.

"Molly." She said, wiping the remaining tears off her face.

"Yes dear?" She said, standing from the table where she and Tonks had been visiting. "Can I make you a sandwich?" She turned her back to the young metamorphmagus and cursed herself.

"Molly, finish what you were about to say, please." She said sternly.

"Nothing dear. Just talking, you know. I do that- Side effect of seven children on your nerves." She tried to chuckle but it came out choked and she knew it was suspicious.

"Molly?" She pleaded. Molly closed her eyes and faced the floor.

"I suppose it is the right thing to do." She said, moving around the table to sit beside of Tonks rather than across from her. She took a deep breath and laid a hand on Tonks' in support before going into her story.

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Tonks pulled her coat closer around her as she waited on the bench Molly had told her about. She checked the small slip of paper Molly had written the address on to make sure she was in the right place for what seemed like the millionth time. But she was early, according to what Molly had said, and not completely sure she should even be here. Her heart hurt though, and she had to know. The area was quiet, but still Tonks gripped her wand in the pocket of her coat. She jumped as a white sedan turned the corner a few feet down from her bench. The nerves in her stomach tightened.

A woman, just as Molly described- With dark auburn curls piled on top of her head, climbed out of the car and walked around to the right back door and opened it up. A small girl climbed out with the help of the woman, a tutu sticking out from under her coat. She was giggling about something and she held the woman's hand as they walked up the path to the little house Tonks had been watching. She kept her eyes on the young girl- She couldn't have been more that six or seven. Her hair was much straighter than her mother's, and a sickeningly familiar sandy-blonde. Molly was not wrong. Fury and hurt blazed in her chest. Without thinking, she stood and hurried across the street and stood at the edge of the yard. The winds whipped her blue hair in circles around her face and she shivered, and cringed as the baby kicked her between two ribs.

"You're right." She said to her stomach, "We should go say hello." She stepped forward and put on what she called her 'Work face', to hide emotions. She felt the tingle of sensing wards flowing over her body and reading her intentions. It was a tickling sensation, one she had gotten used to in recent months, as almost everyone had their houses blocked with the same protective magic. Slowly, she knocked on the door. There was the sound of running, small feet slapping on hard wood before the door swung open.

"Hello!" The little girl piped. The woman from before appeared quickly in the hallway behind her daughter and tucked her back behind her.

"Kimberly, I told you not to answer the door." She scolded. She straightened herself up and tilted her head at Tonks, who still stood at door awkwardly. "Can we help you?" She said with a smile, looking Tonks over. "Why don't you come in, it's freezing outside!" She ushered Tonks in and to their sitting room. The young girl, Kimberly, her mother had called her, was hot on their heels, never looking away from Tonks.

"Sorry," The woman apologized, "She saw you on the bench- She loves your hair." She explained. Tonks smiled at the tiny young witch, who grinned back with unnaturally green eyes shinning.

"That's fine." Tonks said, with a wink toward the girl and she wrinkled her nose and changed it to bright green, and then to bubblegum pink. Little Kimberly's jaw dropped and she giggled.

"So-" The woman said, as she sat down across the coffee table from Tonks. "What can we do for a Ministry Auror?" Tonks blinked a couple times, shocked. It did explain why she just let her in, but she didn't quite know how she knew who she was.

"I- Er," she stammered, "Huh?"

"I did your bloodwork for your Auror entry examination, actually." She confessed with a friendly smile. "I work at St. Mungos." Tonks swallowed, not remembering her. "Oh, don't feel bad. I have only met one metamorphmagus, but I can't remember your name either. It was like a five minute meeting." She explained.

"Oh. Right." She smiled, fighting back the feeling of bile rising in her throat. "I- I'm not here for Ministry reasons, Jennifer. Molly gave me your address. My name is Nymphadora Lupin." The woman's face lost all color and the warm smiled painted on her lips dropped.

"Kimberly." She said, turning toward the little girl sitting on the floor cross-legged. "Go change out of your dance clothes and start your maths homework."

"Mummy-" The child pleaded. Jennifer blinked once and nodded toward the stairs. Kimberly stood and did as she was told, but stomped away as she did so.

"Molly sent you here. Why?" She demanded.

"She just gave me your address. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come-" She stammered, prying herself up from the couch.

"Relax. I am not a bitter person." She said. "I'm sorry I reacted as such. I just-" She sighed. "What can we do for you?"

"Well, I just- Molly and I are close. And I was talking to her about problems Re- About my marriage issues. I won't bore you there." Tonks said, looking down. "And she made a slip up. I pried until she told , being the curious soul I am, I wanted to see if it was possible she was right."

"Well-" Jennifer said quietly, and she gestured around them. "Here we are."

"I'm sorry." Tonks said again. "I had no right." She moved to stand again, but Jennifer sat forward.

"Please, we both know you're going to end up asking a bunch of questions, you're nowhere near leaving- Stop torturing yourself." She laughed as Tonks sighed and sank back into the couch. They sat in silence for a few moments, before a giggle from upstairs flowed down to them.

"She's beautiful." Tonks said quietly.

"Thank you, I agree." Jennifer said with a sad smile. "Listen, we're not exactly old friends, so rip the bandage off. There are hundreds of questions you have, I can see them working behind your eyes. Just ask."

"Is she-"

"She is not a werewolf, no." Jennifer cut her off. "I knew that would be first." Tonks nodded.

"How old is she?" Tonks ask.

"She turned seven three weeks ago. He sent her a card, and I put it with all the others. Yes, he knows. He always knew." She said. "Never tired to actually meet her, of course. But he's sent a few letters, a card each birthday and Christmas. They have money in them. He also sent half his check to her each time he got paid at Hogwarts. And I put them all unopened in a box for her. When the time comes, she can have them. Now, I feel, isn't quite right."

"He never told me." She said quietly. "But I get it now."

"I'm sorry?" Jennifer ask.

"He left, the night I told him about our baby. Was gone a couple weeks. He came home- But he won't look at me. I thought maybe it was just shame from leaving his pregnant wife in a war, but..."

"Molly told you more than you bargained for?" She ask. Tonks nodded.

"I'm sorry." Jennifer apologized. "Now is not the time for extra stress on the two of you." She nodded to her stomach. "Boy or girl?"

"A boy." Tonks replied.

"Congratulations." Jennifer complimented. The two fell into silence once more, and Kimberly came running down the stairs.

"Mummy!" She handed Jennifer a piece of paper. "Are my maths all correct?" Tonks watched Jennifer skim the worksheet before handing it back with a grin.

"Perfect." She complimented.

"Then may I have a chocolate frog, please?" Kimberly ask. Tonks nearly choked watching her. Jennifer nodded.

"One. And just eat it, do not let it loose in the house again." She called as Kimberly ran for what Tonks guessed was the kitchen.

"Chocolate?" Tonks asked, a broken sort of half- laugh escaping. Jennifer nodded.

"Strange how you can be so like someone you've never met." She said.

"Why'd he leave?" Tonks ask, her voice hurried, like she was afraid she'd loose her nerve to ask. Jennifer scratched at her forehead and sighed.

"I wondered myself for a couple years. If he was upset I chose to keep her, or what. In the end, I guess because I didn't make him happy. It's not like we were married, anyway. We'd only lived together a couple years. I tired my best, but- Life does that, sometimes."

Tonks suddenly hurt for this woman. The weight of Molly's statement pressed in on her chest, and thought she cursed her hormones for making her- She began to cry. Jennifer stood up and retrieved a box of tissues, and settled onto the couch cushion next to Tonks.

"There is no need for that, now." She said, smiling. "When you love someone, you only want their happiness. I'm glad he found it." She looked sad in her eyes too, but she held her smile.

"Thank you." Tonks said, her voice shaking.

"Did you get what you came for?" Jennifer ask. Tonks shrugged, then nodded.

"You're a wonderful mother." Tonks said quietly. "She truly is beautiful." Jennifer gave a small bow as she walked her to the door.

"Don't feel like you have to be a stranger." Jennifer called after Tonks as she hurried down the walkway. Kimberly appeared behind her mother, a jumpy chocolate frog leg hanging from the corner of her mouth.

"What did the Auror want, Mummy?" She ask, curiously. Jennifer grinned.

"She came to warn you about little girls who don't eat their cabbage!" She teased. Kimberly's eyes grew even wider than they had when marveling at Tonks' hair.

"NOOO!" She cried, giggling as she ran down the all.

* * *

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Molly ask. Tonks snorted.

"Jennifer ask me that also." She replied.

"Well?" Molly prodded. Tonks nodded.

"I suppose so. I don't know how to feel about him leaving little Kimberly like that, but I can't risk telling him I met her and him leaving me again. I figured he'd tell me if he wanted me to know." She sighed.

"He's a good man, Dora." Molly reminded her. Tonks nodded.

"Yeah, he is." She agreed. "He does what he can to help in his own way. The best he can figure how." She told Molly. She smiled.

"Jennifer is an old friend, love." Molly said. "We know."

"She's very, very kind hearted." Tonks said. "I'd love to be that sort of person. So loving and forgiving." Molly smiled at the young witch.

"I believe you already are."

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